Luck Episode 2 Review

Never have I been more interested in a show where I didn’t really understand what was going on. I’m not really sure if that is a compliment or not. In all seriousness, I’m not a 100% sure about any of the ongoing storylines. I have some ideas about where we are headed, but Luck doesn’t care enough to show me exactly where we are headed. It simply means that I will have to continue carrying my English to Horse-racing dictionary. Let’s recap the main storylines going so far.

Without a doubt, my favorite one centers around the business with the group that hit the pick-six last week. It’s interesting to watch all four members of the group handle the money in different ways. It becomes a lot easier to understand the rest of the show when you look through the lenses of these four guys. Milch does a nice job of weaving their story with the story of the other main characters of the show.

Speaking of the other main characters, Ace Bernstein remains a mystery to me. I know he went to jail, has a temper, and has bought a horse through a front man played pretty well by Dennis Farina. In addition, we watched him continue to push his agenda regarding inserting casino table games… somewhere. I’m still not sure about that one.

On a related note, Hoffman is absolutely awesome in this show. Despite the spreading around of the camera time, it’s clear that the people behind Luck have hitched their wagons to Hoffman. He commands every single scene that he is in, and no one dares try to steal the scene from him. Granted, his character’s motives remain kind of cloudy to me, but his body language and wordplay have been beyond reproach. I always expect movie stars to blow their TV counterparts out of the water, but Hoffman makes it look so effortless. He’s an acting savant. More people should watch this show for his performance alone.

Operating on the periphery of all of this stuff is Nick Nolte’s character, Walter Smith. Walter seems like the kind of guy who just wants to train his horse and be left alone. We haven’t seen him tangle with the other characters in this show yet, but it wouldn’t be that big of a stretch to be expecting something in the coming weeks. That being said, Nolte’s mega-raspy voice seems to a few octaves lower than normal. It just so happens to fit his character wonderfully. His character seems to be the only earnest main character on that show. It’s nice to see a show about degeneracy at its finest provide us with a moral compass to root for as the show proceeds.

At this point, it’s practically impossible to project where this season is going. One thing is for sure, though: Very few of you will be here when the show raps up its inaugural season. Garnering only a 1.1 in the 18-49 demographic isn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Still, this show has a lot of superlative acting. Also, Luck features a really comprehensive and well executed script. Regardless of how incomprehensible a lot of the dialogue may seem, the interaction between the characters makes it plenty enjoyable. Studies could be done discussing the power of body language in Luck. All of our big guns seem to use it to their advantage. If you aren’t watching, visit your On Demand section and catch up. We could be missing something special… if we can figure out exactly what that is.

What did you think of Luck‘s second episode? Sound off in the comments below or get at me on Twitter.

About The Author

In addition to commenting on all types of TV from Mad Men to dumb reality television, Adam Newland (AKA The TV Czar) works as an educator of young minds. Currently, he is seeing mixed results in both. In addition to fashioning himself the TV Czar, Adam considers himself to be a connoisseur of the narrative drama such as Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Justified, and others. When not attempting to plow through an entire week’s worth of TV in a single weekend, the TV Czar can be found enjoying a trip to the gym and spending time with his wife, the Czarina.